When Alliances Form
by Stargirl888
Summary: "I have to go." he whispered.I'd known this was coming but it still hurt."Promise me you won't let the others come after me." I nodded, unable to speak. He was about to go to the most dangerous place in the vampire world. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**So I love Alice and Jasper and their private reserved relationship but I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't get into the sporadic disagreement and that even more infrequently they would have an argument that others in the family withness. So this is my version of one such rare event. **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight the whole thing would be about Alice, Jasper and Rose, not about Bella, Edward and Jake. **

"Jasper I am done talking!"

I looked at Edward, surely I had misheard? Alice and Jasper never fought, or if they did no one, except maybe Edward, knew about it.

Just then Alice walked into the room almost physically vibrating such was her anger. She made as though to get to the front door but Jasper, who had followed her in caught her arm and yanked her, not to gently, to a stop.

She hissed as I watched shocked, I had never seen them behave this way.

"Alice, please, you know I have to do this."

"No, you don't have to do anything, we can find another way around it." She contradicted, glaring at him

"Be reasonable." Thundered Jasper, making Edward and me flinch, Alice however was unaffected

"Be reasonable?" She repeated in a deadly serious voice, advancing on him "You want to go there, by yourself, to the one other person who knows all your weaknesses and will willingly exploit them and I'm the one being unreasonable?"

This argument was getting more confusing by the moment. Alice was now inches from Jaspers nose, her finger poking his chest. Then she suddenly pulled away as something occurred to her

"I know, lets see if the rest of the family agrees that I'm unreasonable?"

Jasper stood slightly straighter, if he had been angry before he was downright furious now. I resisted the urge to pull Alice away from him, Jaspers demeanour combined with his scars caused him to give off such a dangerous aura that I was actually worried for Alice, despite knowing Jasper would never hurt her.

"This is between us."

"Oh really, well I think they should have a say." She disagreed turning to face us "Edward do you-"

"Alice, enough." Jasper cut her off. His voice was no longer raised and his tone was mild but something in it made her freeze. She clearly realised she was going too far. She spun back around to Jasper

She surveyed him for a moment, as though unsure what to say next and as she stood there her anger faded. Then Jasper reached out for her hand "Come on." He said lightly, leading her out of the door.

She followed without protest, apparently Jaspers change in tone held some significance.

I watched them depart before turning to him for an explanation. He shook his head "It's not for me to say."

I scowled, I knew he was right but it was still very annoying that he knew and I didn't and given the tension and concern radiating off him whatever this was about was bothering him as much as Alice

I sighed and returned to my book. I knew I would eventually find out what it was about – in our family nothing stayed secret for long and for now I was content to wait.

**So what do you think? Reviews make me happy!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, at the urging of my reviewers (Thanks to all of you!) I decided to add another chapter! It back-peddles just a little but there's a whole lot of new stuff afterwards. **

APOV

"Oh really, well I think they should have a say. Edward do you-"

I felt I was pushing my luck even before he spoke. His disapproval, hurt and more strongly, anger washed over me in waves

"Alice, enough." He spoke quietly and his tone it completely contrasted with his words; to most it may even appear that he had calmed down but I knew that tone – he was about to completely loose his temper. It was a rare occurrence for Jasper to loose control of his emotions, I had only witnessed it twice before in our many years together and what had followed was not pleasant. I whirled around to face him silently, begging him with my eyes to contain himself - I could deal with Jasper in a rage but I doubted my family could. I waited for him to make the next move.

He took my hand "Come on." He said in the same tone as before. He led me out of the room and we sprinted away from the house.

Jasper released my hand as we ran – yet another sign of how angry he was, as though the emotions swirling about him were not indication enough.

It took me an instant to realise that he had stopped. I hesitated a few steps in front of him.

"Alice, you know better than to involve our family." he said. I could tell from his voice he was slightly more in control now, but still just as angry.

I turned slowly to look at him. He was standing near the entrance of the clearing, leaning against a tree. His arms were crossed over his chest. His gaze wandered up to meet mine.

"I know." I admitted, going over to him and wrapping my arms around his waist in silent appology, he hesitated before unwinding his arms and putting them around my shoulders. We stood like that for a long time. Slowly, I felt his anger fade and determination replaced it.

I sighed "You're still going to go." I said quietly into his shoulder. I didn't need a vision to tell me this - I could feel it. His arms tightened around me and he gently pressed his lips to my head.

"Yes."

And then all the emotions my fury had cloaked rose to the front as I was gasping into his chest, a vampires version of tears. clutching him with an intensity that would have crushed a human, as though mere force could keep him with me.

He sent me comforting waves of calm but they barely registered, all I knew was my other half was about to go to the most dangerous place in the vampire world and I did not know if he would survive. The thought of being in a world without him absolutely terrified me.

**I know, I'm really mean not to have told you where Jaspers going but I hope to post another chapter some time today and I promise, all will be revealed then! **

**The response to this story really has been overwhelming – the story alerts, favourite stories and especially the reviews - I cannot thank you all enough!!!!**

**Reviews are most welcome! **


	3. Chapter 3

As Promised: Chapter 3!! And you will finally find out where Jazz is going!

APOV

After a time he gently loosened his hold "I have to go." he said quietly.

Looking up I could see the pain in his eyes. I had known this was coming but it still hurt.

"Promise me you won't let the others come after me." he begged

I nodded, unable to speak.

I rose onto my toes and he leant down, we kissed, passionately. It said everything we couldn't bring ourselves to voice. I knew this could be the last time I would ever see him or wrap my arms around his waist, as did he. My heart almost broke as I felt him pull away. He sent me a final wave of pure love and then he was gone, out of sight in the blink of the eye.

I lost it the, I felt my mind cave in on itself and all that was left was darkness.

* * *

I don't know how long I floated in the abyss, but, finally, I forced myself to emerge from the swamping, suffocating shadows, using the one small, flicker of hope that I still had – he may still return.

I became aware of my body, I was on the ground and I could feel grass and twigs press into me. I made myself get up and pushed all my emotions into a corner of my mind, my family would need me now. I had to be strong; I had to convince them that Jasper was better off not being found.

By the time I reached the house I was in control of myself, my emotions all tucked away.

"Edward, Bella, Rose, Emmett, Carlisle, Esme, Nessie, Jacob." I called quietly, knowing they would hear. Each name giving me a reason to keep going.

I moved into the lounge and sat on the sofa to wait. Within seconds my family was around me, all wore questioning weary expressions.

I took a deep breath but my emotions were perilously close of breaking free from my control; could not bring myself to speak. I glanced at Edward, silently asking him to explain.

"Jasper has gone to the south." he said quietly "We all know their wars have increased of late and that thanks to certain alliances the Volturi can no longer keep them in check, soon it will spread to the North-"

"And Jasper thinks he can stop it?" Emmet boomed in disbelief "He'll get himself killed going there alone."

I flinched and Bella put a hand on my knee in support and Emmett sent me an apologetic glance.

"He…has a history with some of the key 'players'" Edward answered for me

"Maria!" hissed Rosalie

"Yes and no, there are others."

Then Carlisle asked the inevitable question: "Should we go after him?"

"Hell yeah!" shouted Emmett, the others making similar sounds of agreement

I found my voice "No."

They all looked at me like I had just grown a second head 'No." I repeated firmly "Jasper knows what he's doing and this is much more complicated than just two covens battling for territory. We would only get in the way and hold him back."

Emmett made a disparaging noise but I ignored him.

"About 60 years ago a vampire in the South decided they would no longer breed only newborns but form an army of more gifted vampires. His name was Phillip and he had narrowly escaped a Volturi attack a few months previous. They had killed his mate though and, not knowing which member of the guard had killed her he turned his rage at the Volturi in general. Using the idea of their guard as a starting point he began to change only certain humans into vampires – those with potential for having certain gifts. Now days most of the 'warlords' have two armies, a newborn one and a gifted one which acts as cavalry, however none managed to rival the Volturi. The Volturi became increasingly worried about these new modes of warfare and began to purge more often. The southerners began to worry. It was then that secret alliances began to form. Recently, this has culminated into three main power bases. The Volturi are no longer the strongest coven."

I could feel their shock.

"These new covens have begun to move north and the Volturi are barely managing to contain them. Jasper has gone to hopefully end the conflict."

"How?"

"By playing them against each other."

It was risky – the Southerners were unpredictable and unreliable but he was determined to stop this before it spread too far.

"I don't want to sound negative here," said Rosalie "but we need to consider: what if he fails?"

**So you finally know what's going on!!! **

**I know, the first part was really heart-wrenching – I nearly cried while writing it :'( **

**I'm not sure from here if I want to follow Alice or Jasper so please let me know what you prefer. (I'm leaning toward Jazz since his will probably be much more exciting!) **

**As always I love to hear your thoughts so please REVIEW!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed/added story alerts/favourite story tags, the popularity of this story has been overwhelming!!!**

**So without further ado: **

JPOV

I raced through the woods, every atom in my body longing to turn back but I forced myself away from my love. I knew what I was about to do would most likely lead to my death but I had to stop the southerners coming north; I had to protect Alice.

When I reached a small town I began scoping out its occupants. I had not told Alice exactly how I planned to stop the southerners, although considering how much she knew of them from me and her ability she could probably work it out – I was going yo create an army of my own.

I knew my family would be appalled when they found out, I was a little appalled at myself after so many years of following Carlisles vegetarian philosophy but I was completely certain that going south without protection was just pointlessly suicidal.

I had already been in contact with Peter and Charlotte and they had agreed to join me, although neither had any extra abilities their knowledge and experience would be crucial.

Just then a human caught my attention. He was walking down the roadside a few feet away from me. I eyed him speculatively. I could tell he would be powerful if I changed him – my years with Maria had taught me how to pick up on such things. The man was little over twenty, a good age to be turned and his small build meant he'd be fast on his feet. There were a few cars on the road so I couldn't turn him then and there as I'd have liked to, instead I stalked him, hoping he would go somewhere secluded.

It had been many years since I had had to do this and as I considered it I realised how much easier it was now, after years of self denial, to be so close to the human but not attack him.

He turned into an alley and I slipped into a crouch as I tensed, the man did not even realised he had been followed. I pounced and in a matter of seconds it was over. I had the morphine out and he quickly lay still. I had gotten the idea from Bella's transformation, with the morphine immobilizing his body it would be easier to hide him until the transformation was complete.

I suddenly felt someone behind me. I knew it was a vampire – no human would be able to sneak up on me in this way

"I don't relish the thought of doing this again." a voice said dryly

I spun around, recognising the voice instantly "Peter! I thought I was meeting you in the next town." I greeted him

"Charlotte and I arrived early and decided to come here for some hunting while we waited." he explained as Charlotte emerged from a side street. Both had bright red eyes

"New recruit?" she asked, indicating the man I had just bitten. I nodded

"Why is he so still?" Peter asked "I can hear his heartbeat so he's still alive and I saw you bite him but I've never seen anyone remain so…immobile."

"Morphine." I said, holding up the now empty syringe, he gave me a puzzled look "When Edwards mate was turned Carlisle thought morphine may stop the pain of the transformation."

"Does it?"

"No, although she never admitted it to Edward. I could feel her pain the whole time, the morphine just immobilises the body."

"Useful." Peter remarked. One reason I got on with Peter was he was as practically minded as me. Whether he liked or disliked doing something he would still do it if it served a purpose.

"Should we get going?" asked Charlotte, glancing about, we were rather exposed.

I showed my agreement and hefted the now limp body into my arms as we ran.

* * *

APOV

I came out of the vision. He was still safe. He was with Peter and Charlotte now and I knew they would help him.

I was grateful that Bella had shielded my mind before I searched for visions of Jasper, I didn't want anyone in the family to see him like that. It had taken them so long to trust him after we first arrived. Jazz's scars and past had always haunted him, it had affected his relationships with every member of the family and now he was returning to the people who had caused him so much pain and in returning he would become what he had fought so hard to avoid.

I had known when he left what he would do so I was not shocked by what I had seen; Jasper was ever practical. I knew he was building an army and that this was only the first of many he would turn, most, if not all of whom would perish without even realising what they were fighting for.

I took a deep, unnecessary breath, focussing on my relief that he was still alright and gathered my thoughts before nodding to Bella that she could lower the shield.

She gave me a sympathetic smile before nodding to indicate she had retracted the shield to herself.

**I know – it was a short chapter and not my best work but a short update is better than no update in my opinion. I pretty much have the storyline planned out now, it'll just take me some time to flesh out the details but hopefully I should have another (longer) chapter ready soon. **

**As always I really want to know if you liked it or would have changed something so please use the little button labelled "Review" and tell me your thoughts!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm really torn whether to draw this out to push along the story so I'm going to just type and see what happens – fingers crossed: **

JPOV

We moved quickly and our numbers grew fast. Peter had procured a secluded house for us to use while we trained the newborns.

Coping with their gifts had been a challenge though – all had something unique and discovering what their gifts were and training the newborns to control them were more testing than I had anticipated.

I refused to allow myself to recall the time before I had joined Peter and Charlotte; it was too painful knowing I was betraying everything they believed, the lifestyle they had fought for. The memories held me back, made me hesitate to discipline the newborns in the way that was customary.

It was only when Charlotte pulled me aside one day that I realised jus how different I was and how much I was jeopardising my undertaking.

"What the hell has happened to Jasper Whitlock?" she had demanded of me in a empty alcove.

"I'm right here." had been my response

"No, you're not." she disagreed "If you were you would never have let me get away with speaking to you like this! You're not the vampire who used to make us all tremble when you entered the room. The vampire who would no sooner hesitate to dispose of a weak soldier as an enemy's one. You survived all those years because you hardened your heart and did what you had to do and you need to do that again." she had hissed, and I could feel her frustration.

"Would you rather I attack you as I once would have for questioning me?" I replied, riled

"Jasper, if you cannot then you stand no chance. I know you know this!" she almost pleaded "Our forces may be strong physically but they still remember compassion and love and that will be our downfall. You know Peter and I never wanted to return to this life, never expected to either, but we have done it – for you, because we had faith you could do this, that you could put away your human half and give in to your baser instincts to protect others from having to do the same. The few have to suffer for the many."

"You put to much faith in me. I can't put the newborns through the suffering we went through." I whispered, avoiding her gaze.

"Then we are doomed." she said resolutely "They stand no chance against the southerners. They will hesitate and they will die. How can you not see this?" she had asked, walking away without giving me a chance to respond.

I had seen it, but I was not the person I once was. I could no longer cause them pain without a second thought.

That night I had spent reliving the memories of a time I had tried so hard to forget I immersed myself in my past world of violence and chaos, blotting out everything that had entered my life when I had left Maria so that when the early morning sun appeared on the horizon and as I rose to rejoin the others I was once again Jasper Whitlock, a southern vampire and a force to be reckoned with - Alice, forgive me.

Peter had noticed the change the moment I had entered the clearing they were training in. I called everyone over to me "Things are about to change." I announced to the group. "Right now you stand no chance against the southerners, and that is my fault more than yours. I was too soft and showed compassion where there was no room for it but no longer!" I felt determination infuse me and could feel the weariness of the newborns; they had never seen me like this before. From Peter and Charlotte I felt relief, determination as well as the underlying hint of fear that had been familiar to me so many years ago. I felt a twinge of regret but ignored it – if this was what it took to protect my family then I would do it.

Within two months we were ready to head south. Most of the recruits that we had turned when I was still wallowing in the past were now dead, destroyed by either myself or their fellow trainees. I had let the in fighting happen – as Charlotte had pointed out, they never would have stood a chance anyway, a fact further proven by their unwillingness to fight their fellows.

My relationship with Peter and Charlotte had also changed. We were no longer companions, I was the leader and they were my seconds. They had accepted the role without question. Our numbers rose to around 15 which was sizable enough and all had gifts.

When it was apparent they were ready Charlotte, Peter and I met to discuss tactics.

"We need territories. The Union will not listen to us without them." Peter pointed out, using the colloquial name for the alliance Maria had engineered

I surveyed the map before me. We had marked off the different vampire territories. "And we must be careful not to attack someone's ally – we cannot afford to anger any member of the Union yet." Charlotte cautioned

"Someone new then?" I asked

"Freinz is probably a good bet, small force of only 10 and he only holds two minor cities so its unlikely any of the king pins would have been interested enough to deal with him." Peter recited pointing out the two cities Frienz controlled– I had placed him in charge of gathering information.

"Should we look at aligning ourselves with him?" Charlotte asked – pointing out a second possibility.

I shook my head "I would rather we expand ourselves than form alliances, it would only make us more venerable to attack if we have allies they can target and it would give us more people and places to protect."

She didn't argue.

"Alright, get everyone ready to move." I told them "We leave in an hour and I'll need a more detailed map before then if we are to come up with a decent plan. "

* * *

BPOV **(AN: I know this was only meant to be Alice or Jaspers POV but Bella just works better here – you'll see what I mean in a minute)**

Alice sat gasping as fear shot through me. She had seen something, something terrible.

I rush to her side, trying to pry away her hands which were covering her face. "What is Alice?" I asked urgently as I heard Emmett, Rosalie, Edward and Carlisle running up the stairs after hearing my tone.

Alice refused to answer; she had curled herself into a ball and now sat immobile.

"Alice, tell us what you saw." I begged as the others hesitated by the door. I cursed myself for agreeing to shield her mind when she searched for visions of Jasper, if I hadn't Edward would have been able to tell us what she'd seen but now we just had to guess.

I pulled back the shield anyway and looked to Edward, silently asking what she was thinking.

He shook his head "Give her a moment."

I turned back to Alice and could see her beginning to come back to herself. She gazed at us all for a full minute before speaking.

"We have to go!" she announced, jumping up with speed only a vampire was capable of and heading for the door, we all followed in bewilderment. "Carlisle, call Sam and Jacob and have them meet us in the old house, Nessie too."

"We're going back to Forks?" I asked in confusion.

"Pit stop." She replied before she continued rattling off instructions "Rose, call Esme and have her meet us on the way. Edward, gather our documents and catch up to us."

They all obeyed immediately, when Alice spoke like this there was always a very good reason and everyone knew better than to argue.

We sprinted through the wilderness, Alice's haste and single minded determination spurring us onwards. As the others rejoined us they began to question the reason for our actions; Alice ignored them so they eventually gave up and ran most of the way in silence.

"We need to hunt." Alice announced, startling us out of our running trance but not stopping. "Keep heading south and we'll regroup at the house."

None of use were in any doubt as to which house she was referring. The others began leaving the group.

I was about to change my path westerly towards a heard of deer I could hear in the distance when Alice spoke again "Bella?"

I ran to her side and she looked to me with the most apologetic and heart-wrenchingly sorrowful expression I had ever had the misfortune to witness as we continued to run. It was the first display of any emotion I had seen from her since our rapid departure. I waited for her to continue "Do you remember when we went to Volterra?" she asked quietly

I nodded, my memories were hazy, but they were there.

"And in the plane when told you I lied to Jasper?" she pressed **(AN: I can't believe they cut this from the movie!!!)**

I recalled the conversation and understanding washed through me: she was telling me that she was about to risk the lives of every person in this family, including my own, to protect her one true soul mate. I had suspected this but was surprised she was drawing attention to it. As in the past, I couldn't find it in myself to hold this against her though – I would do the same thing were it Edward or Nessie – I _had_ done the same thing.

"Is it…do you know?" I whispered, I needed to find out how much of a possibility our death was.

She shook her head "I haven't seen anything except that without us, he will fail."

I absorbed that in silence. My first thought was for Nessie, she could not accompany us – of that I was certain. Edward… I would never convince him to stay – not without me and I couldn't abandon Jasper now, not when he and his wife had risked their lives countless times for me and my family.

I took her hands in mine – a silent gesture of support.

She gave me a grim smile "Thank You." she murmured, almost inaudibly.

* * *

APOV

We arrived in Forks within hours. I had pushed all my fears to the back of my mind, I refused to even recall the vision that had led me here – for fear the emotions it evoked would incapacitate me.

We raced to the old house, time was of the essence. To be honest I had to admit that my involving the wolves was more selfishness than anything else – but then what part of this plan wasn't?

I knew I was risking my family's life but what else could I do – when it was a choice between them and Jasper…I ignored my guilt; I had made my decision and afterwards I would deal with the results but right at that moment I had other things to consider.

The wolves were already congregated, most in wolf form, in front of the house when we arrived, Nessie with them. Between the many furred bodies I saw Jacob, Sam, Paul and Leah in human form, all with grim expressions. They were the only four active wolves from Bella's human days as the others had settled down with families and no longer phased. Leah still phased because she could not face growing old alone – she had yet to imprint, Paul for a similar reason, Jacob would never stop phasing inorder to live out eternity with Nessie and Sam was waiting for his baby son to grow old enough to take over the leadership of his pack.

We exchanged greetings and I took a deep, unnecessary, breath before speaking. I was nervous; for once not knowing the outcome so I fell back on formality

"Sam Uley and Jacob Black, I would like to request the help of your packs."

The regarded me seriously as I spoke.

"Alice, I think you had better explain." Jacob requested

"You are aware of the southern covens and their constant wars and feuds. Lately, due to a multitude of factors the Volturi can no control them. Soon the covens will move north. Jasper has a history there with certain influential vampires and has gone to try prevent the northward expansion. Today I had a vision that he would fail without our intervention." I said in a monotone, simplifying things to the bare minimum ad removing all emotion.

"Why did you not go with him in the first place?" Leah asked fiercely

"Many reasons. Most too private to explain." I said honestly; it really was none of her business "Suffice to say that at the time I did not know he would fail. This morning Jasper made a decision which has a pre-destined end and that is what we need to change."

The wolved nodded before excusing themselves into the forest to discuss things in private as I turned to my family.

"We're with you Alice." Edward said, answering my unasked question and they all made similar noised of agreement, Bella and Esme coming over to give me a hug murmuring that we would change the future. I looked to Nessie who had remained silent.

"I have to stay behind?" she asked unblinkingly, looking directly at me.

I nodded "You have human blood, it would be too much of a distraction."

She gave me a small accepting smile, showing maturity far beyond her years. "I expect hourly updates." she warned, turning to address the whole family "and if you're going to miss one you need to let me know"

"We'll make sure at least one of us updates you each hour." Bella assured her as the wolves returned.

"Alice, what you ask if not an easy decision and we would've preferred to have longer to consider it but we know that is not possible. I cannot risk sending my whole pack with you in case we should fail and there is no one left to protect the tribe so I have asked for volunteers - Jack, Randle, Peter, Gareth and myself will join you." Sam spoke.

I let out a breath at this announcement – this meant he was only leaving three wolves behind.

"I agree with Sam that more time would have been better." said Jacob "and I too have asked for volunteers. Crial and Mark, along with Leah will accompany you. I shall remain."

I nodded in gratitude "I have a condition though." I said as something occurred to me. Everyone looked taken aback.

"You come here asking for our help and you have a condition?" Paul demanded outraged.

I eyed him coldly before looking to Jacob and Sam as I spoke "You need to swear and give an Alpha order that no matter what happens no one in your packs will harm my mate or any member of the family."

Both Alphas wore identical expressions of shock, and although I could not see my family behind me I was fairly certain their expressions matched.

"Alice, we would never con – " Jake began to protest

"I need you to do this. There may be vampires who manipulate you into doing something against your will and this is the only guaranteed protection" I countered. It felt unfair to trick them into this but it was the only way.

"Alice, I understand but I swore I would never use my Alpha command to remove another's free will." Jacob said apologetically, studiously avoiding Sam's gaze.

"If they agreed?" I asked desperately.

Jacob seemed taken aback by this suggestion; he glanced at his Leah and then his pack. All made small gestures of consent. "Alright." he said solemnly although I could tell he still did not like it "I swear no one of my pack will intentionally harm Jasper or a member of your family." he said in the deep baritone of the Alpha.

I looked to Sam. "I do not like this but I trust you enough that I will agree." he said and I was suddenly grateful for how close we had become with the packs since Nessie was born. "but what's to stop them from convincing me to lift the order? I'm coming with after all."

I had not considered that "Swear on Emily's life." I said rashly, saying anything to get him to agree "Your imprint bond is stronger than any other, its no guarantee but it's the only thing that will give you pause."

I saw fear flicker across his face as he debated this. "We don't have much time!" I reminded him when he still remained silent.

"Okay, I swear on my imprints life that no member of my pack shall harm your family or mate." Sam said gravely.

That was all I needed. "Let's go." I said as I spun around and sprinted away from the house, knowing the others would follow.

**So I know I rushed the story but I had the JPOV written for over a week but every time I tried to write further I could not think of anything to write. I had the idea of Alice's vision and the wolves swirling about for most of this time but did not want to use it yet for fear of moving too quickly but I could not think of anything else so I finally gave in. **

**As always reviews are what I live for so please REVIEW!!! I want to know what you think should happen next! **


	6. Chapter 6

JPOV.

We were positioned around the outskirts of Grange; the small town was one of the two Freinz controlled.

We had made good time and nearly the entire coven had managed to squeeze in a hunt at the cities and towns we passed through. We were ready and manoeuvring into position.

. We had used Gordon's positioning gift to observe their movements for the last two days and were fairly certain as to their routine. The vampires would hide out during the day in four houses scattered throughout the city – two or three per house. Frienz was in the northern most one – the one closest to where I was currently positioned. Each night a couple of vampires would hunt whilst the others trained and a few, probably the ranking members, would gather in the Northern house to strategise.

I had split the coven into three groups, one led by Peter, one by Charlotte and the last led by me. Peter had the largest group of seven vampires; they were to attack the training group. Charlotte and two others would take care of the hunting vamps while myself and the three vampires beside me would take the house.

I could feel the nervousness of the three vampires beside me. This would be their first time in actual combat and they were unsure what to expect. Of course the discipline I had instilled in them prevented them from admitting this aloud.

I glanced at Gordon – his gift was one of the most useful we had. He was similar to Dmitri, a tracker, however his skills were both more limited and more advanced. Where Dmitri could find the location of a specific vampire anywhere in the world just by concentrating on them, Gordon could sense where every vampire in a ten mile radius, down to their exact posture. He had once described it as being similar to the infra-red vision spies on TV use but without him having to look in their direction.

He glanced over to me. "The hunters are preparing to leave." he murmured.

"Now." he said in a slightly louder voice, to carry to Charlotte who was standing a little way away.

She took off, Damien and Selicia close on her heals. They were our fastest runners.

"Trainers out." Gordon said quietly and Peter and his group sprinted away.

I tensed – any second…

I froze as something completely new reached my senses. Someone was terrified…completely terrified, but that was not what alerted me – I had been surrounded by fear for months it was what was beneath that – love, understanding, regret, guilt and forgiveness. Such complicated and deep emotions could not come from a new born, whomever this was, was at least fifty years old, if not more. I whirled around – there was something familiar about the emotions.

"Now." murmured Gordon again

"Wait." I hissed – allowing it to carry to the others. This had all occurred within a fraction of a second and Peter and Charlotte had not yet reached the city.

They halted, their groups following suit. Thankfully our planning was careful and the paths they had chosen meant the buildings of the city blocked them from the view of Freinz's men.

"Retreat." I whisper-yelled as I stormed away from the city – not bothering to check that everyone had obeyed, I knew they wouldn't dare defy me, especially now.

The closer I got to the originator of the emotions the more I felt – she was definitely not alone and I was fairly certain I knew who was with her.

* * *

APOV

We were cutting it close. I made myself run faster, pushing myself to the limit of my ability. Edward was a few paces ahead of me – using my visions to guide him.

I knew it would be my emotions he would feel first though – he could always sense mine from much greater distances than the others.

I saw it the second he felt me – he disappeared from my sight indicating he would encounter the wolves in the near future.

I nearly collapsed on the floor in relief - the others halted beside me.

"We were in time." Edward said quietly and they all visibly cheered, my mood did not improve though – Jasper would be furious.

I saw Jasper come into sight; relief flowed through me as I took off towards him.

He froze upon seeing me and I sprinted to stand before him, marvelling in the sight of the face I had feared I would never see again.

I knew he was angry and fearful – he did not bother to hide his emotions but I ignored them as I placed my hands on his cheeks, gently running my fingers over his face to assure myself he was indeed before me.

"My god Alice." he murmured, pulling away my hand and clutching it in his own.

I let him – I had known he would not welcome our arrival.

"Jasper!"

* * *

JPOV

I suddenly heard Peter call from behind me "Jasper!"

"Damn It." I cursed, spinning around to see all fourteen vampires that made up my coven slip into fighting stances as they were rapidly approached by ten foreign vampires.

My first thought was of Alice. I had to get her out of here.

"Peter." I called; he did not even glance at me – knowing I would feel his acknowledgement in his expectant emotions.

"I have to –"

"We can manage, go." he cut me off, already knowing what I was asking, as the first of Frienz's vampires reached them.

Still clutching Alice's hand I dragged her away from the fight and straight through the congregation of vampires and werewolves who stood a few meters away hissing "Lets go." as we passed.

Thankfully though they were all too confused to argue and followed me without question. I continued to pull Alice away from the danger when she suddenly stopped moving, forcing me to halt as well.

I turned to glare at her and saw her eyes uncloud as she came out of a vision. I could feel the fear radiating out of her every pore

"You have to stop them." she hissed, so fast I barely caught the jumble of words "Frienz has an Alliance with Maria – she'll want revenge."

Had it been anyone other to Alice I would've argued that Frienz was too much of a small fry to interest Maria but I knew Alice would not tell me unless she was certain.

I swore vehemently and glanced to the now distant fight, the repercussions running trough my head. The reality being it was already too late to stop.

**Okay so I think this chapter may be a little difficult to follow – a lot of things happen in it. Let me know what you think, as always reviews are much appreciated. **


	7. Chapter 7

I pulled Alice along behind me as I ran.

The others had protested occasionally about leaving Peter, Charlotte and the newborns to face Freinz's men. I had ignored them – I knew my coven was more than a match for them.

I was already running through the thousands of repercussions from my family and the packs arrival as we sprinted through the night. I was practically shaking with anger that Alice had come to the South, the two hour run to the house doing nothing to diminish it.

The abandoned farm house that the coven had used the previous day eventually came into sight and I slowed, coming to a halt by the front door.

I looked down at her petite hand that was still clutched in my own and had to stop myself from shaking. I didn't even bother containing my emotions as we stood there and Alice winced as another wave of fury hit her. I ignored the instant twinge of regret. Finally I couldn't remain quiet any longer. "The one thing I asked, Alice." I hissed at her.

"Jasper, you can't blame Alice, she had a vision." Carlisle tried to pacify me.

I literally growled, something I had not done to Carlisle since I had first joined his family. Everyone except Alice looked taken aback by my reaction.

"Carlisle, with all due respect, this is between me and my mate." I snarled, resisting the urge to yell. I was now looking only at Alice; she met my gaze, watching me carefully.

She seemed to come to a decision then because she began tugging my hand, leading me into the house and away from the group.

* * *

BPOV

"Jasper, you can't blame Alice, she had a vision." Carlisle tried, unsuccessfully, to calm him, shocked by the way jasper had just spoken to Alice

I will admit I was more than a little shocked by Jaspers behaviour, more so when a second later when he growled at Carlisle. Clearly in the six months since he left us he had changed.

A moment later he seemed to remember himself though and managed a much more controlled tone when he responded.

"Carlisle, with all due respect, this is between me and my mate."

I watched Alice starting to tug him inside – it wouldn't afford them much privacy with our vampire hearing but the gesture was significant enough.

We heard a door close somewhere inside before Jasper spoke again.

"I asked you one thing, Alice." he repeated, his tone harsh.

"I know." she whispered back

APOV

I led him through the house to the room he had taken to using as an office – I knew where it was from my visions. Shutting the door behind us he pulled his hand from mine and I tensed – this was not going to be pleasant.

"I asked you one thing." he repeated again, anger lacing his voice. He refused to look at me, choosing instead to stare at the wall behind me.

I cringed – I hated when he was mad at me, especially when it was justified but I couldn't bring myself to regret my decision.

"I know." I admitted quietly.

He glanced down, finally meeting my gaze. "Yet still you brought them here?" he hissed "Endangering all their lives, endangering your own."

"Don't you think I know that?" I demanded, suddenly just as angry as he was "I knew the second that I asked them to come here."

"Then why the hell did you still come here? Why couldn't' you do the only thing I've ever asked of you and keep them safe?"

"Jasper, I saw you die! These last few days I have seen you die a thousand different ways, how could you expect me to just sit at home and let it happen?" I could hear the anguish in my voice as I said it and knew he would feel it as well.

"But at least you'd be safe." he hissed, although I knew there was more than just anger in those words, there was fear.

I took a step closer to him "What if you were me?" I asked "What if you had a vision of me being ripped to pieces? Would you have been able to stay away and not do anything to prevent it, no matter who else it hurt in the processes?" I asked gently

He came over to me and gently brushed aside a strand of hair, leaving his hand against the side of my face. I sighed, relieved that he was no longer furious.

"I understand." he murmured quietly, "but what if something happens to you? I…Alice, I couldn't go on if you ceased to exist."

"I'm not going back." I said, suddenly worried.

He smiled briefly "I wouldn't ask you to, and it was cruel for me to ask you to stay behind in the first place." He began stroking my hair and I wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his chest and allowing our emotions to swirl about the room.

Eventually I felt him shift slightly and pull away. "Peter and the others will be back soon." he said pointedly and I knew what he was asking.

Closing my eyes I sifted through the future. "They'll be within sight in five minutes."

"What do you want to tell the family and the wolves?" I asked

He glanced at me "Why should I not be surprised that you know?" he muttered before answering my question. "They'll all have to know eventually, the family we may as well tell, the dogs I'd rather not admit anything outright until we have to – they'll never be able to abide by what I'm doing."

I could hear the reprimand in his voice. "Look, I made them swear not to harm you and both Jake and Sam gave an Alpha order."

I felt a wave of confusion from him – silently asking why they agreed. "I may have tricked them into it." I admitted.

"But Sam's here, he could rescind the order, and Leah as Jacobs second also could also rescind the order in his absence."

"I know." I replied, echoing my earlier words "But it'll give them pause enough."

He scowled and I could tell he didn't find my words that reassuring. "Four minutes." I reminded him

"Go meet up with Peter." he told me "Tell him to ensure no one reveals anything and delay their arrival by about 10 minutes. I'll find a place to settle the dogs – they look dead on their feet, once they're asleep we can tell the family."

I nodded and took off without a second thought. "I'll be back just now." I called to my family as I rushed past them.

"Peter, Charlotte." I greeted them as they cam to a stop, Jaspers coven hesitating behind them.

"Alice." they returned the greeting, clearly not in the best of spirits.

"Jasper needs ten minutes to deal with things before you join him at the house." I explained without preamble

"And why should we believe you?" came the question from one of the vampires a few feet away.

Charlotte hissed at the girl who flinched away at the sound "Because this is Jaspers mate." Peter growled

The others turned to survey me with weary expressions. I returned their stares.

The ten minutes went by surprisingly fast and with very little conversation. The newborns seemed unsure of what to make of me and Peter and Charlotte were reluctant to discuss things around them.

A short while later Peter, Charlotte, Jasper and I were congregated in his office. Once we had explained everything to the family they have all left with their mates to discuss things, the wolves were still asleep, human form, in a room down the hall from us and the newborns were occupying themselves for the time being.

"Okay, now you can explain what happened with Freinz's people." Jasper began the conversation.

"One of their hunters saw us retreating and called the others. We fought and won but we lost Sam and Gordon." Peter reported and Jasper swore "I left Franz and Kellan to keep an eye on the town; I doubt anyone will try to take the town from us yet." Peter continued

"Freinz?" Jasper asked

"Dead." Charlotte responded

"What's the problem?" Peter asked, knowing Jaspers reactions too well.

"Freinz and Maria had an alliance." I explained and Peter gave me a disbelieving look. "It's why we came. I saw what would happen if you attacked Grange and Maria found out."

Charlotte moved closer to Peter and he put a protective arm around her. "So what now?" he asked Jasper

"Now we examine the possibility of alliances of our own." Jasper responded

"We may not have to." Charlotte pointed out "with the Cullen's, the dogs and our own men we should be a match for Maria."

"Maria maybe, but what about Gareth and Hester?" he returned, naming Maria's allies.

"What if we try to ally with them as well? Gareth may not betray her but Hester might." Peter suggested "She's only with Maria for protection, but with your family and the packs on our side we are more than a match for Maria's army, and maybe even Gareth's."

"We'd be too evenly matched." Jasper argued

"Not with Hester on our side." Charlotte returned

"No, we need to expand first." Jasper said firmly and he and I exchanged a worried glance, both knowing how the packs would react.

"We can't with the packs here." I said, speaking our fears aloud.

Both Peter and Charlotte seemed confused by this "The wolves don't know that you've been the ones turning the newborns." I explained "They nearly attacked the family when Bella was turned and she actually wanted us to do it – they'd never just stand aside while you turn unsuspecting people."

"Then why'd you bring them?" Peter hissed at me and Jasper growled.

I ignored him though as a thought occurred to me "What if you only let the wolves see the newborns once they're in control of themselves?" they gave me sceptical looks "As long as we're careful they wont be able to work out how old the newborns are and we can pass off some of their behaviour as a southern custom."

I was slightly taken aback by my suggestion – did I just condone turning innocent people? I pushed that thought aside for the time being as Charlottes question distracted me.

"Won't they wonder where the new vamps are coming from?"

"We'll just weave a story for that."

"It has possibilities." Jasper admitted. "But it took us six months to train the last batch."

Charlotte shook her head "Three." she corrected "and most of that time was done honing their gifts, if we turn ungifted people it should only take us a few weeks."

"Three weeks?" I exclaimed

"We should have enough time." Peter assured me "Maria is careful, she won't attack unless she thinks she will win. When she finds out she'll first want to examine our strengths and weaknesses. It'll give us the time we need and the wolves will make her delay even more. I reckon we have little over a month before she makes any sort of definite move."

"I which time we also have to convince Hester to join us." Jasper reminded everyone. "If we could convince Carlisle to help with those negotiations…" he glanced at me and I shut my eyes, already knowing what he was asking

"He hasn't decided if he'll stay yet so I cant see further." I said in frustration and Jasper squeezed my hand in understanding.

"That brings me to another question." Charlotte said suddenly "Where does your family stand in this coven?"

Jasper started at her tone "What do you mean?" he demanded

"I mean I want to know the chain of command. Alice will obviously take her traditional place but what about the rest of them? Who am I expected to follow and who do I expect to obey me." She said firmly although I had a sneaking suspicion that she was only using a pretentious attitude to mask her fear of Jaspers reaction and I noticed that Peter had shifted so he was half shielding her body.

I put my hand on Jaspers shoulder and felt him relax at my touch but his voice was still harsh when he replied "The family and wolves are not a part of the coven, heed their advice but you do not have to follow it, and the same goes for your advice to them. Consider them on par to you."

Charlotte looked like she would argue but seemed to think better of it, her gaze flickered to me "You need to hunt." she said suddenly, completely changing topics.

A low growl rumbled from Jaspers chest in warning and Charlottes gaze flicked back to his.

"I won't take her to human food." she said defensively, although we all knew that wasn't what he was growling about.

"Fine, we'll meet back later to decide who's going recruiting." Jasper hissed; still not pleased.

I pecked him on the cheek before following Charlotte out of the room.

**So what do you think? I tried to do a bit more about A/J's relationship and their emotions in this one since I was reading through the previous chapters and noticed that I had focussed less and less on the emotional aspect as the story progressed. **

**Special thanks to ****xAracnaex for beta-reading this!**

**As always I love reviews so please just ****click the little green button and review!**

**FYI: You can also follow me on twitter (www(dot)twitter(dot)com/Stargirl888) – I'll be posting updates on how my stories are progressing, when you can expect updates, where I need help/suggestions and other random stuff. **


	8. Chapter 8

I know - its been ages since my last update but I finally got to posting this.

Alice POV

I followed Charlotte out of the house to a nearby wood. There was not much wildlife around these parts since Jasper had not realized it would be needed.

I knew Charlotte wanted to talk to me without Jasper but could not see what exactly she was going to say since she kept changing her mind. I doubted it was on purpose though.

When we had run a good few miles she stopped and turned to me. "Why did you come?" she said simply enough.

"I came to save Jasper." I replied with equal simplicity

"And in so doing you lead to his demise."

I stared at her – what was that meant to mean?

"Look, in order for Jasper to effectively lead this coven he cannot be sympathetic, show any form of kind or loving emotion when he's around the recruits, and he definitely cannot let his emotions temper his decision."

"I saw what you said to him to push him back into his old ways." I revealed, although I was sure to keep all accusation from my tone – I did not fault her for it.

"It had to be done/" she defended anyway.

"I know, and I agree with you. I may not like the things he's done since you met up with him but they were necessary. Just as there are many things he will do in the near future that are necessary and as long as he makes the decisions that lead to those actions because of necessity I will support him."

"But the question is whether you'll encourage him?"

"Encourage him?" I repeated, nonplussed.

"Jasper is different around you, calmer and more refined. Even if you do not speak against something he may refrain from a certain decision because he knows sub-consciously that you would not like the outcome."

"I will do whatever I have to. If I feel that a certain decision will better serve the aims of this venture I will, where necessary, encourage him towards that decision."

She was taken aback by this "So you won't try to stop him drinking human blood?"

"No"

"Or turning humans?"

"As long as its necessary, no"

She nodded, "then we may stand a chance."

We heard a small group of deer nearby and my mind turned to the hunt, we were slowly making our way back when Charlotte spoke again.

"You know you are technically now the highest ranking member in the coven barring Jasper?" she asked conversationally

I nodded – I had suspected as much when Charlotte said I'd assume my traditional role. She slowed to a walk and I mimicked her.

"Despite this, the others in the coven won't respect you straight off, they'll feel you don't deserve your position since you only just arrived"

"What difference does that make?" I asked - the others, as far as I was aware, had very little to do with me.

"A lot. There will be times where you will need to give orders and without their respect they will not carry them through properly. They won't out rightly disobey you at first-"

"At first?" I questioned

"When you fail to discipline them they will get worse and start to blatantly disobey and contradict you." she replied before continuing her earlier sentence "but even doing a half job can affect the odds. There's also the possibility they will dessert during a battle, not to mention Jasper constantly destroying the newborns for being rude to you or about you, behind your back, will not be in our best interests."

"So what should I do."

She seemed to consider this seriously before replying

"Prove you're a better fighter. Give into your baser instincts - act like a vampire rather than a human and show you are willing to use a firm hand when necessary."

She then came to a halt and turned to face me. I could already see what was about to happen and I didn't like it. I began to unconsciously back away from her.

"That, there is the problem." she said, nodding to my retreating feet "you cannot back away from them like you're scared." I made a concerted effort to stop moving.

"I'm not scared." I countered "I just don't like where this is going."

"Like it or not, you need to do this. You cannot afford to risk hesitating in front of the newborns."

"But you're not a new born." I argued. I hated the way she was pressing me into a corner.

"No, but if you can deal with me you will be able to deal with them." she took a step towards me.

"You're pushing me into a corner." I said and this time anger edged the words.

"Then do something about it!" she practically shouted "Why are you allowing me to get away with this? You're my superior, you're well within your right."

I knew what she wanted me to do but how could I bring myself to do it? She let out a feral growl and her words from earlier ran through my mind – give myself into my baser instincts.

"Maybe you are as weak as they believe." she goaded, turning away.

That was it, letting my instincts take over, I backhanded her. She didn't try to fight me, instead allowing herself to sprawl on the ground despite the fact my blow was not really hard enough to knock her over before jumping back up to stand before me.

"Next time, less hesitation would be good." she said cheekily and this time I didn't hesitate and sent her sprawling for a second time.

When she rose before tuning on her heel and I could've sworn I saw a flicker of a triumphant grin before her hair whirled forward to conceal her from view.

**What do you think? To anyone who does not like this side of Alice (to quote my beta) "this war, she cant be all happy and bubbly all the time" and she definitely wont be in some of the chapters to come, but I will try to still show a lighter side of her where ever it fits with the story. **

**Some random news: I'm getting myself a laptop!!! So that means more regular updates! (Normally I have to share with the rest of the family which is why it takes me so long to do new chapters). _And_ I got a new, less stressful, job that leaves me a lot more free time than my previous position so thats even more time to write! **

**As always reviews are what makes me want to write more so REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. Please? **


	9. Chapter 9

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! An new year and thousands of new stories just waiting to be written and read :) So, I got a request for me to hurry up and finish the story and stop wth the suspense, well... I dont think that'll be happening any time soon - I already know the basic outline for the next five chapters and they bring this story no where near to the end, so just to let you all know, this story has a long way to go. **

JPOV

Peter and I were in a constant state of anxiety as we awaited our mates to return from hunting. I, because I knew Charlotte was up to something and worried she would upset Alice – her earlier emotions tipping me off and Peter because he was also aware she was up to something and feared my reaction.

I could tell something had happened the second Alice entered the room. Her emotions swirled about her like a thick fog of remorse and guilt, oddly though underneath that I could feel determination and even anger. I let out a low growl automatically and Peter moved to position himself between me and Charlotte as she entered the room, her triumphant aura all the confirmation I needed that she was behind Alice's sudden emotional turmoil

I was about to demand an explanation from Charlotte when Alice cut me off. "We only have a short while before we're interrupted, we need to discuss our course of action quickly."

I knew she was trying to distract me but her words held some truth so I dropped the issue for now, making a mental note to get the full story later.

"Have any of your family decided to stay?" Peter asked, clearly relieved by the change of topic.

Alice shut her eyes "Rose and Emmett are staying, but the others want to discuss things with us in further detail before making a decision."

"Alright, so for now lets take them out of the equation." I said "Peter, can you and Charlotte take care of recruiting?" I asked, they were the best choices for it and I wanted to keep Charlotte away from Alice – it was not that I didn't trust her motives, only her methods.

He nodded "Do you want to go with Alice's suggestion and have us train them away from here and only bring them back once they are under control?"

"Yes, and where ever you train them needs to be far enough away that there is no chance of the wolves finding out. Whilst you're busy with that, I'll work on the Alliance with Hester. Alice – "

I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

We all turned to see Carlisle poking his head into the room.

"Jasper, Alice, can we talk to you for a minute." he asked quietly. I glanced at Alice and she nodded in agreement.

Peter cleared his throat "Well I guess we'll be off" he said, taking Charlottes hand and edging towards the door, his relief that I wouldn't be able to investigate whatever Charlotte had done to Alice, was seeping through the air towards me. I decided to let him go though – we could aways sort it out when they got back.

"Alright," I agreed "Try be back within three weeks and focus more on strength than skill this time."

He nodded and they quickly departed.

I turned back to Carlisle and nodded for them to enter.

Once the family had congregated around us Carlisle spoke again "Jasper, I'm sorry but we cannot make a decision on our position without more information.

"What do you want to know?"

"You're drinking human blood again." he stated. I nodded – my red eyes made it impossible to deny

"We're stronger when we feed off our natural food source" I said by way of explanation "but I would never expect you to change your feeding habits."

I felt a small flicker of relief issue from all of them.

"And you're turning humans."

Again I nodded solemly. I had not admitted this to them out right earlier but it had been overtly implied.

"Again, I would never ask you to help in that regard but should you decide to stay you need to understand that you will have to allow this to happen."

"So how exactly would we be helping then?" Rosalie cut in

"That would depend on what you're comfortable with." I replied honestly, I would not force my family into doing thing they did not believe in, or at least not more than I already had "Ideally you'd help with strategising, negotiating alliances, fighting in the battles and training the newborns once they were under control."

Emmett cleared his throat "Rose and I may not like the idea of turning humans or of them feeding off humans but we know that it'll happen regardless whether we're here or not so our going home really will not benefit anyone, and as you said earlier it is a necessary sacrifice so we've decided we'll stay and help. Besides, I don't see why you should get to have all the fun." he ended his unusually sobre speech with a grin.

I smiled and clapped him on the back, their presence would greatly affect the odds.

The others seemed to take this as a cue to make their own decisions.

Carlisle let out an unnecessary sigh and glanced at Esme before taking her hand and saying "We'll stay too."

I looked then to the only two who had yet to decide. They also agreed to stay.

We spent the next quarter of an hour running through the plans and strategies before the pack awoke.

**Well that came out shorter than expected but two updates in one week!!! You can tell me how wonderful that is in the review which you will be writing... wont you?**


	10. Chapter 10

**I know, how can I leave it so long without updating?? Anyway, here we go... **

APOV

"Alright, we need answers!" Sam all but shouted as he entered the room in which we were all congregated, the other wolves following close behind.

Jasper let out a low growl at his tone, putting everyone on edge.

"You're drinking from humans?" he demanded of Jasper, clearly noticing the bright red eyes.

"Yes."

"Are you turning them?"

"No." Jasper lied smoothly, never flinching.

"It doesn't matter, he broke the treaty!" Matt interrupted, reminding me strongly of Paul from when Bella was still human. He was already trembling.

"You cannot harm us. Your Alpha's orders." I reminded them hastily.

"You tricked us into that." Matt retorted, still shaking violently

I nodded as regret washed through me. "I had no choice." I whispered quietly

"Look, we respect your family but we cannot abide by this – you know that." Sam answered me.

"So what exactly will you do? Fight us? Why not try thinking ahead a little?" Rose interjected "What will happen if you try fight us now? There are seven other vampires in this house aside from those of us here and all are loyal to Jasper, you could never win."

"You mean to threaten us?" Gareth, another wolf, demanded

"No," I replied before Rose could – this was about to get out of hand "She means that if you do fight us and loose you will accomplish nothing – none of us like harming humans, you've known us long enough to know that's true, but it's the only way we can stop the alliance from expanding their territories northward." I paused to allow the implications of that to sink in.

"If you force us into a fight we will not hesitate and you will not survive." Jasper added after a moment, only to be greeted by a round of growls "That is not a threat but the simple truth." he explained "We don't want to hurt any of you but if you put us in a position where we have no other choice…" he let the sentence hang ominously, starring Sam down. "It's the few for the many."

I could see our logic was working on Sam.

"We need to talk to Jacob before making any drastic decisions." Leah said suddenly, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder.

He nodded without looking away from Jasper. "No one will do anything until we get back." he said and Jasper nodded in agreement, before Sam broke eye contact and strode from the room, Leah close on his heels.

Once they were gone the atmosphere began to thicken uncomfortably. Eventually Jasper spoke again "I need to talk to Alice." he said to the room at large, the words coming out as an order.

When no one moved he let out another rumbling growl.

"Could you all excuse us?" I asked pointedly when they still failed to take his meaning.

The room quickly cleared as the wolves moved next door to some food we had arranged for them and the family left to explore the house and discuss things with their mates.

Now, finally alone, I moved to stand before Jasper. He kissed my forehead, allowing his lips to linger as his arms wrapped around me.

Letting out a sigh he asked quietly "So what happened with Charlotte?"

**So its short but a short chapter is better than no chapter at all. Special thx to my Beta**

**PLEASE REVIEW**


	11. Chapter 11

**I hit the 100 reviews mark and I'm sooo stoked!!! (Not sure if you use that slang over-seas ;) Thank you to everyone who reviewed and made this possible, please keep them comming. **

**So, here's the next chapter, and its quite long compared to the last few chapters as a thank you to all my reviewers!!! Here goes....**

Jasper had grown increasingly still as I recounted what had happened between Charlotte and myself.

"…she just kept pushing me and eventually I snapped."

"You hit her?" he asked in surprise.

"Twice." I all but whispered into his chest as he held me tight against his body, as though trying to absorb the guilt I felt over it.

He kissed the top of my head. "Now I wish I hadn't sent her away so quickly." he said

"No, I'm pleased you did." I told him, he frowned at me in confusion "She was only doing what she thought was best for everyone." I explained

"But she caused you to feel like this." he said, referring to the culpability and remorse he could feel from me.

"Yes, but it also made me realise she was right – the others need to know they have to follow my orders, and there will be consequences if they don't."

Jasper let out a low growl "They wouldn't dare – "

"-to disobey _you_" I finished his sentence "They need to obey _me_, and not just because we're mated. I may not like or enjoy disciplining them but I will if I have to."

"Alice," he said quietly "I never wanted you here, to see me like this, to become like me … you encapsulate everything that's good and right in the world into your tiny frame and I don't want to change that. You're just so innocent." I knew he hadn't meant it as condescension but it still annoyed me.

"Don't do that." I said harshly, pulling away from him slightly for easier eye contact "Don't make me into some perfect woman. A delicate flower you're afraid will be ruined. There's more to me than that and you know it. And don't make yourself out to be worse than me" I added, I hated when he would blindly ignore my faults. "We've both done things in our past that we're not proud off, nor am I ignorant of what we are discussing; of what I am considering - I know what methods are employed by this and other covens."

"I just…" Jasper began before trailing off, unable to articulate himself.

"I know." I said, understanding perfectly what he was trying to say "but I need to do this, and you need to stop trying to protect me from everything. If this is to be a proper Southern Coven capable of standing up to the Alliance then we will all need to play our roles."

He let out a sigh, "Okay." he agreed quietly

"And think, this'll mean I need a whole new wardrobe to match – I was thinking leather and latex." I added grinning, showing him that even if I had to harden my heart to others, I was still me.

He was unable to hold back a smile at that.

We stood discussing different tactics and plans until Leah and Sam returned.

They entered the room looking grim but resigned and I was pleased to note their packs were not with them, hopefully this meant they had decided against fighting us.

"So?" Jasper asked without preamble.

"We agree that fighting you would be pointless, but at the same time we cannot help you when it goes against everything we stand against, so we have decided to return to La Push. If you fail we'll be needed there to defend the humans anyway." Sam explained although I could see he was not content with the decision.

Jasper nodded, "Alright. When do you plan to leave?" he asked

"As soon as possible" Leah responded

"Can we get you anything for your trip?" I offered but both declined and less than 10 minutes later we watched their retreating forms as they raced homewards.

I had little to do for the next few hours and so decided to go to the training area to watch the mock fights and hopefully refresh my knowledge whilst we waited for Peter and Charlotte to return – with the wolves gone they no longer needed to train the Newborns away from us so Jasper had called them back – it was more convenient to have them nearby.

Randy's POV

We were training around the back of the house when she came into view. She was short and not how I would have pictured Jaspers mate. Indeed it was a surprise to all of us that he even had a mate, let alone another coven.

I watched her round the corner of the building and had to smile, it was gratifying to know that in a fight I would undoubtedly come out best.

I could not explain my dislike for her but something about her presence just rubbed me the wrong way.

She looked over to me and made eye contact, I could see some unidentifiable emotion burning in those strangely golden eyes as she surveyed me levelly, almost haughtily.

_Self-righteous Bitch _I thought at her _you're only where you are because Jaspers your mate, I, on the other hand, am here because of my effort and hard work. You think you're a vampire but really you're a weakling human in a vampire's body._

Her eyes darted to another vampire watching us from across the yard a millisecond before I heard a growl erupt from his chest.

"Edward, I'll handle it." she called to him before turning her attention back to me.

He looked as though he would argue but then his expression changed and he backed off.

She advanced towards me, her movements almost stalking.

She came to a stop just before me and had to look up to meet my gaze, it was almost comical our height difference. "So Randy, you think that I'm only here because I'm Jaspers mate?" she asked lightly

_Holy Shit, please don't tell me she's a mind-reader. _I thought – it's not that I was embarrassed about my opinions but I knew Jasper would be pissed when she told him – which I'm sure she would do the second she had the opportunity.

I considered if denial or honesty would be my best route here, thankful she didn't give me enough time to work it out.

"You're right." she said in a hushed, but menacing, tone. I noticed in m peripheries that a crowd was beginning to gather. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Jasper. I don't like war, I don't enjoy killing, I find no rush of adrenaline when my life, or the lives of those I love, is on the line."

I felt a surge of triumph as she admitted this, her eyes brimming with passion.

"But where you see all those things as my weaknesses, I see them as my strengths. I will always fight ten times harder than you, kill with ten times the vigour you ever will because I have something more precious than my own life to protect."

She stepped back a few steps so she no longer had to tilt her head to look at me. "You all think you're better than me." she called to the surrounding groups, tauntingly. "Better fighters, better leaders." She was now striding about as she talked and I began think she was actually enjoying herself "You forget that I have over a hundred years of experience, have had to face many more obstacles than you ever could have in your few brief months since being turned. Yet still you feel superior?"

Then her eyes locked back on mine and she stopped pacing to face me head on "Try me." she challenged.

* * *

APOV

I watched as his body tensed in preparation.

I had to admit that giving that little speech had been fun, as would the coming sparring. Being here with Jaspers southern coven had re-awoken something of me that I had not experienced since Jazz and I had joined our family.

When it had been just Jazz and I, we had been different – wilder, without the social conventions that were so much a part of the human façade. And while I was fairly content with the way of life my family had adopted, being here was…freeing, it allowed me to give myself over to my instincts.

I grinned to myself as I saw his attack a second before he sprung.

I closed my eyes and sidestepped as he lunged for me. I was equally immersed in the present and the future, this was what felt most natural to me – being able to react off my visions rather than peoples present behaviour. I normally refrained from doing so because I knew my family found it annoying and the humans would just have thought it odd and it'd have drawn unwanted attention, but now, sparring with Randy, I could do so without hesitation.

For all that I supported our lifestyle, if I were honest with myself, the other vampires were right, we were denying our very nature by living in the constraints of a human world **-** vampires were meant to be free, unrestrained and wild, to run with abandon through the forest, to move without having to constantly slow ourselves down, and here in the South, I could allow myself to be completely myself.

He lasted a grand total of two minutes, and 110 seconds of that time was more because I wanted to prolong the experience than anything else.

I ended it with his arms pinned behind his back, almost dislocating it and my teeth at his neck, biting down to just pierce the skin. I held him there for a couple of seconds before releasing and stepping away.

The surrounding group was silent, still. I knew they were surprised and impressed, exactly the reaction I wanted from this whole encounter – if they were to respect me they needed to know I knew what I was talking about and could actually defend myself.

A moment later Peter stepped out of the ring and came towards me, as I had seen he would. He and Charlotte had arrived back as we had begun sparring.

"Now," he said, turning to the crowd that had gathered to watch "who can guess how she bested him?"

**The A/J conversation was not as intense as I had planned, but anyway. **

**I know I dont normally do random peoples POV's but I thought I needed to so I could show how the others regarded Alice. I quite enjoyed the whole confrontation - did you? REVIEW and let me know!!**


	12. Chapter 12

APOV

Jasper came into view just as Peter had begun explaining various ways of determining a vampires additional abilities by examining their fighting styles.

"Well it looks like we don't need to worry about them not respecting you." He said as he came to stand near me.

"Give it a day or two." I warned him "it'll take more than one little encounter to change their opinions."

"So I guess we need to re-evaluate and expand more than we first thought." Charlotte said, coming to stand by us.

Jasper nodded in agreement before looking around the practice area "Edward?" he called.

Edward came quickly over to us. "Could you track down the rest of the family for me and tell them I'd like to have a meeting in my room in an hour to discuss various tasks."

Edward nodded and sprinted off, "Charlotte, you and Peter will be there too." Jasper said after Edward had left.

*-*-*-*

55min later and we were all gathered in Jaspers 'war room' as Emmet had affectionately dubbed it.

"Okay, so what I really wanted to discuss here was who was going to do what." Jasper said as we all stood around him.

"Now, Peter and Charlotte, you will take care of changing the humans, when you bring them back we'll need some of you to help with the training – I was hoping Rose and Emmett would be willing to do this?' he asked turning to them.

"We're happy to help but we are not that experienced with this sort of thing." Emmett admitted

"I know, just remember what I showed you before Victoria's attack, Alice will also help," he added and I knew he was referring to those months before we had joined the Cullens when I had insisted he taught me how to fight, thank goodness vampire memory doesn't fade.

When Emmett made no further protest he moved on "Alright, now Carlisle, I would like you Edward and Bella to accompany me to go talk to Hester."

"Hester?" Carlisle questioned "Isn't she one of Maria's allies?"

Jasper nodded "She is, but we're hoping to change that."

"Alright, but cant Bella stay behind?" Edward asked, apparently Jasper was blocking his thoughts. Edward glanced at me and nodded as I thought this. Bella was glaring at Edward in annoyance.

"I'm sorry Edward but we need her shielding power." He said apologetically "I don't thing Hester will be hostile, not until she knows what we want anyway, but we cant risk going without some form of protection. "

"Besides, I'm not having you run off to gods know where without me." Bella added.

Edward sighed but I could see he knew that this was not something he would win.

"Esme," Jasper said, turning to face her and I was honestly not sure what job he would allocate "I would like you to work with Alice in co-ordinating things whilst we're gone."

"I'm happy to do that, but I honestly have no idea what needs to be done."

"Basically it involves insuring everyone hunts on rotation so that there are not too many noticeable deaths whilst also checking that no one becomes too thirsty, keeping an eye on the newborns coming out from the morphine as the turning completes, drawing up practice schedules so that they don't just practice with one person and dealing with any day to day issues that arise."

"Oh okay." Esmee agreed. "When do you leave?"

"In an hour." Jasper responded

"Do you need us or can we go now?" Peter asked

"No, you can leave now." Jasper agreed, he and Peter exchanging a silent farewell and warning in one.

"We should be back by sun-up with one or two newborns" Charlotte said, turning to Esme "there needs to be separate where they can lay until the change is complete, they wont be much trouble but when they come out they tend to forget themselves and attack whomever they see first. Peter and I will try to be there when that happens but if we're not I suggest Emmett is present in case they need to be restrained."

Esme nodded in acknowledgement. Everyone scattered shortly afterwards, leaving Jasper and I alone to say yet another goodbye.

"I could come with you." I said quietly.

"No, although if it makes you feel better there are practical reasons for that, not only my desire to protect you." I waited for him to explain "Someone needs to control things while I'm away."

"The others…"

"The others cannot do it." He said dismissively "The members of the family are not members of the coven so they cannot be considered in charge, nor could I place someone in the coven above the family. You are the only one, besides me, with duel alliances. By being my mate you are automatically in a position of authority in the coven and the family will listen to and respect your opinion."

I bowed my head in submission – he was right, I was needed here. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.

"I'll be back." He comforted me

"Just be careful." I warned

"I always am."

* * *

JPOV

We left soon after. The one thing with being a vampire was you never had to worry about things like provisions or transport needs – we were made to survive without all the odds and ends humans needed to go on a trip.

"Before we get there I need to explain some things to you." I said as we ran. "We'll need to behave like a coven, not a family, when we're with Hester and, most importantly, I don't want to reveal our abilities unless we absolutely have to."

"Well, I guess you better start coaching." Bella replied.

"Alright, well first, Carlisle, you know we all consider you head of the family, but – " I began uncomfortably

"But you need to be seen as head of the coven" he finished for me. I nodded. "That's fine with me."

"Good, but now here's the important bit: when we're around Hester no one can question or contradict me. In a coven unless the leader asked for your opinion you do not give it and if you are asked you give your opinion but then defer to the leader if he or she does not agree, don't argue your point, and if I ask someone to do something, whatever you do don't question me in front of Hester" I explained "Now, as for feeding, they cannot know you don't drink human blood."

"But our eyes." Bella pointed out

"I doubt they will know the significance of them. We can put it down to a odd occurance that is passed along when someone is turned. I doubt she will really care – she's not the type to delve into puzzles."

"Where exactly are we going to meet Hester anyway?" Edward asked.

"There is a city called Holmes Town where she is residing at the moment. We should be there some time this afternoon."

True to my word it was a little after four o'clock when we arrived on the outskirts.

"Bella, can you extend your shield over all of us and keep it there indefinitely?" I asked

She nodded and a second later announced the shield was in place.

"Edward, I need you to pay attention to their thoughts. If anyone plans to attack or capture us tap your fingers on your thigh as an absentminded gesture." I instructed, knowing I would hear the movement even if I could not see it.

"Alright." I said "Lets go."

We wound our way through the city to little coffee shop called "Aunty Amy's" and went inside.

I could feel the curiosity from the others but I ignored it. We took a seat at the table in the center of the café and I ordered coffee for everyone, indicating to Carlisle to pay.

We sat there for little over an hour and I could tell the others were anxiously impatient for something to happen. Eventually Bella opened her mouth, no doubt to ask what we were doing sitting in a coffee shop but I shot her a look to silence her.

Another hour went past and the waitress began packing up the outside tables and preparing to close. I could feel her getting ready to ask I to leave when the door opened again.

In walked a tall woman of about twenty-two. Her brown hair fell to her lower back and her blood red eyes widened in surprise as she saw me. She was flanked by a male vampire who could best be described as thuggish – he had a large build almost equal to Emmetts and dark black hair. There were two more vampires somewhere nearby – I could feel them but neither entered the shop – backup.

"So Joss was right when he picked up your scent." She said as she walked towards the table.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but we're closing." Said the waitress as she re-emerged to see the new arrivals.

Hester turned to the girl with a feral smile that was menacing enough for the girl to literally take a step back, her fear thick in the air. Hester turned to me with a raised eyebrow and indicated the girl. I silently cursed – I could not refuse Hesters 'gift' and risk insulting her but nor did I really want to kill a human in front of Carlisle, Edward and Bella. I comforted myself with the fact that they already knew I was drinking human blood again as I sprung up and across the room, snapping the girls neck before she would have even been able to work out what had happened. I sunk my teeth into her soft flesh, drawing the delicious liquid into my mouth and over my tongue.

I could feel the shock and revulsion that raidiated from my family and the approval from Hester.

Once I had finished I nodded in thanks to Hester as I let the body slump on the floor. Joss quickly moved it to the back room and I went to resume my seat only to find Hester already in it. It was a blatant power play.

"So I see Maria's pet is now all on his own?" she said condescendingly.

I stiffened. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to call me Maria's pet and even longer since someone got away with it. But I couldn't do anything about it now – not in her territory.

"Indeed." I replied as she gazed up at me playfully. I was annoyed at having to stand before her like that – it was the position of an inferior and that was not a thought I wanted to encourage in her – if we allied it'd have to be as equals.

"Move." I said bluntly to Bella who was sitting adjacent to Hester. She quickly rose and I took her seat as she went to stand behind Edward.

Hester's smile widened at that. "Big man in charge, are we?" she asked

I didn't bother to answer.

"You remember the last time you were in that chair?" she asked quietly and I could feel the others interest heighten at this tit-bit. "And now," she continued " you come to break the very alliance you made happen."

**So...Review?**


	13. Chapter 13

**So a special thanks to all my reviewers. I try to respond to everyone but if I did happen to forget to reply to yours or you reviewed anonymously, this is just to let you know that your review was read and appreciated**

**So without further ado…**

"And now, you come here to break the very Alliance you made happen." She said with a smug smile.

The shock (an emotion I was growing more familiar with by the minute) reverberated around the room. I pushed it aside as I focused on Hester.

"But I don't see what makes Maria's pet a worthy ally." She continued "Especially if your coven only has 3 other members."

"I have not been Maria's pet for over a hundred years." I said, careful to keep my tone light. I knew I had to put a stop to this pet talk if an alliance was to take place.

"But the marks are still there regardless." She returned. Taking hold of my wrist, she pushed up my shirt sleeve and ran her finger lightly over a faded and obscured line of scars on my underarm. Maria had given me the marks night she turned me – like a sign of ownership. The line was barely visible now, obscured by the many other scars that overlapped it, it ran from my inner wrist to just below my elbow where the pattern changed direction and circled around my arm horizontally.

I pulled my arm away "Not by choice." I retorted, shrugging my sleeve back into position.

"And, what about the marks I gave you?" she asked and I could feel the scars on my shoulder itch uncomfortably "Are those not there by choice anymore?"

I resisted the urge to tell her they were never by choice – I had done it for Maria, but I knew insulting Hester was not the best move.

"That depends," I replied coyly "Are you interested in forming an alliance with me?"

She surveyed me levelly and I could feel the tension thicken as we awaited her response.

"Would the same terms I was offered by Maria remain?" she asked quietly

I could tell that we were entering dangerous waters – I would never agree to what she was getting at but if I phrased my refusal wrong it would not only jeopardize the chances of alliance but also the chances of us getting out alive.

"I'm surprised you'd still be interested when there are so many younger, more skilled men out there… and women." I added as an afterthought

"Oh, I doubt that." She disagreed "Do you not see me that way any more?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her arrogant stupidity. She let the question hang for a second before changing the subject when she realized I was not going to answer – I was sure we'd return to the topic soon enough though

"Let's go back to my original question – what makes you a worthy ally? I've been in an Alliance with Maria for over a hundred years and despite the reservations I have had, the alliance has worked out rather well, so I don't see why I should change that."

"Hester, we both know what it's like to be allied to Maria. Things are never shared equally."

"That I have come to live with." She said, but there was a sour hint to her tone and I could feel her resentment.

"You shouldn't have to live with it." I argued

"And how do you think she'd react if I broke our agreement, when she finds out that you are behind it."

I felt a small surge of hope, if she was thinking of this then she was seriously considering it. "I'd be better off capturing you now, it'd save a lot of hassles and Maria would be very happy to have you back after all this time." She spoke lightly enough but I could feel the tension heighten, the anticipation.

"That would be rash." I warned

"How so?"

"To begin with, I don't want Maria to know you've broken the alliance." She raised an eyebrow "If she plans anything she'll let you know so that you can send aids. All you would need to do is tell me what her plans are. And if you did try to capture me you should consider that my coven is larger than yours, they have orders in place, should I be captured or killed. And, you would lose any opportunity to get back at Maria for years of slights and condescension's." I explained. "Besides, why do you think Maria would be happy to have me under her control again?" I asked quietly "She's scared of me. Even when I was still loyal to her she feared me, and with good reason. I was with her for a long time, I know her, how she thinks, how she acts."

"With all that knowledge I'm surprised you even need to seek an Alliance with me."

"If it was just Maria I wouldn't need to." I said, more confidently than I felt. "But with Maria and Gareth together, I would prefer to have help. Gareth is less predictable and I would rather have someone who can confirm his plans."

She was silent as she considered. I could feel her emotions shifting every few seconds – fear, anticipation, regret, resentment. I gently began sending her a steady stream of enthusiasm, hoping to push her in the right direction. But still she wavered. I debated whether I should point out that technically Maria had broken the alliance terms first, but it was re-entering dangerous waters again.

Just then Edward tapped his fingers on the table and I decided to risk it. "Technically, it you look at it, Maria was the one who broke the alliance first."

Edwards's fingers stopped tapping which I took as a good sign. Hester's emotions switched too, suddenly she exuded an overwhelming annoyance and anger, clearly she was still bitter over that development.

"But I thought that you were not willing to re-instate those terms if I joined with you?" she asked delicately. "If you did it would be more than just an alliance then – our covens would merge."

I shook my head "No, I was merely pointing out that she broke things first."

"Not by her choice."

"If she cannot keep control of her pet," I argued, the word pet leaving a bitter taste in my mouth, "then that is her fault, is it not?" I knew that that was not logical but it was how she and most other southern vampires thought.

I could tell that Hester was still wavering in her decision so I decided that having shown her the carrot, it was now time to use a light stick to push her along. Hester may not have realized it yet but she had given away her ignorance when she asked if my coven only consisted of Edward, Bella and Carlisle - that was a perk of being relatively unknown, we were enigmas, and that allowed me to bluff.

"Hester, I came to you because I know you are clever enough to grasp this opportunity. But I will destroy Maria with or without your help, but, given our history, I did not want you to be collateral." I imbued my words with as much conviction as possible, slowly manipulating Hester's emotions, increasing her wary fear of us ever so slightly. The threat was only lightly veiled.

"Maria made a mistake letting you out of her sight long enough to escape." Hester said with a rueful smile. "But I believe that mistake was to my benefit." I felt a brief flicker of hope before Edward started tapping his fingers again. Hester's emotions were still full of anticipation and had not changed.

She smiled then, the predatory smile of someone who knew they had won. I suddenly I knew that the whole situation was a trap – she had listened to me out of curiosity but never really considered joining me.

_Edward, if any of you are captured and Hester gives you the chance to join her, take it. Tell the others if you can. If I'm caught and you escape don't let Alice come after me, and no one is to come after me if they take me to Maria. _I thought hastily as I prepared to spring. _Escape if you can and take the others – we'll never win_ I added as I leapt at Hester.

Things moved quickly then, even for vampire speed. Six other vampires entered the café and immediately headed for me. . In my peripheries I could see Edward tugging the others out of the café. No one paid them attention – it was me they wanted. I fought them, hoping to distract them long enough that Bella, Edward and Carlisle escaped, but even I could not stand against the eight vampires that now crowded the room. I was quickly pinned, face down on the floor. I could feel a female vampire grasping my wrists against the small of my back and a much larger male sitting on my legs.

"I'm not an idiot you know." Hester said as the pair hauled me to my knees. Her triumph infused the air. Glancing around I noticed all their eyes were bright red and I was fairly certain that it had not been even six months since some of them were turned.

Hester was still smiling victoriously "I've known about your empathy gift since that night in Rio." I silently cursed myself for not realizing sooner – she had been controlling her emotions earlier, it was uncommon for someone to have the skill to do so but I met a couple of people in my past with the ability. "And I'd take a pretty good guess that the bronze haired one has some sort of mind reading ability, which would explain the tapping."

"So what's your plan?" I snarled, hoping she would want to gloat more and reveal something of use

"Hmm, I'm not sure." She said thoughtfully

"Oh, well at least you've thought this out." I commented. She backhanded me, and I knew that had I not been being held I would have flown through the wall with the force of it.

"I see that you years away from the South have made you forget how things work. I'm going to have to remind you." She backhanded me again before flicking her gaze to the vampire who was holding me. "Take him to the basement." She ordered before turning away to have a whispered conversation with another vampire in the opposite corner of the room.

They led me out through the back of the café and into a small alley and then through a door on the opposite side, taking me into a two story building. Moments later I was in a windowless concrete basement.

Examining my surroundings I came to the conclusion that the only escape route was the door, on the other side of which at least four vampires were stationed. So basically I was stuck here until Hester decided otherwise.

**So that was another chapter. As always I would love to hear what you thought so please review. **

**I am trying a new routine where I will try to update all my stories at least once every two weeks. Not sure if it'll work, but if you do happen to notice that I haven't updated in over two weeks feel free to PM and push me along. **


	14. Chapter 14

**So, here is Chapter 14!! Thank you for all your support and reviews. I would never have gotten past the third chapter without them!**

_**Italics **_**indicates a vision.**

"Alice, what is it?" I heard Esme's gentle voice reach me through the vision.

"She'll capture Jasper." I murmured as I came out of the vision. Glancing around the room I saw Marie, Sylivia and Franz watching me anxiously and I cursed myself for not remembering their presence

"Go." I said to them before turning to face Esme's worried expression

"And Carlisle? Bella, Edward?" she demanded

"The others will get away." I explained.

"Can we do anything to stop this – go after them?"

"No, there's not enough time. Can you go get Peter and Charlotte – I want to try and see what her plan is."

I watched Esme leave before sinking back into the visions.

_He was siting, cross-legged in a dark, windowless room, his eyes completely black and I could tell he was very weak. _

_He looked up at the sound of someone approaching. The door opened and the smell of a human wafted in. I saw him twitch slightly as he resisted the urge to throw himself through the doorway in an attemped to find the source of the scent. A womans shape blotted out the light that filtered through the doorway as she entered, shutting the door behind her. From my previous visions I knew this woman to be Hester _

"_I trust you're enjoying your stay?" she asked politely. He let out an inarticulate growl in reply. "No, I suppose not." She answered herself. _

"_I think you've lost your touch after all these years." She said conversationally, pacing around where Jasper was seated on the floor. "I mean, I never would have thought it'd be so easy to capture you, and I would have at least expected a rescue attempt by now, did you leave no one in charge? Or was the one left in charge not capable enough to take over from you?_

_I could tell that behind his impassive expression this information meant something to him. _

"_What do you plan to do with me?" He demanded, making eye contact with her for the first time_

"_For now? Nothing." She replied, staring him down "But later…I'm sure I'll be able to think up something _fun_." _

I came out of the vision with a jolt as Peter and Charlotte entered the room, their faces grim.

"Hester's captured Jasper." I told them without preamble – by now my vision would have come to pass.

"Esme said so." Peter replied, "What is she planning to do with him?"

"She hasn't decided long term – for now she's just holding him captive." Peter scowled at that.

"Carlisle, Bella and Edward?" Charlotte asked

"Escaped – Hester let them, although why I cannot fathom."

"To try follow them back here?" Peter suggested

I shook my head "She know's that'll never work with Edwards mindreading ability."

Peter swore "How did she find out about that?" he demanded

"A guess. She picked up that a signal they were using corresponded with her thoughts." I supplied.

"Maybe she didn't want to bother keeping them captive." Charlotte suggested – it took a lot of extra work to keep vampires hostage. "Where are they now?" Charlotte enquired.

"Heading back here."

"Call and stop them. We need them to stay there incase she decides to take him to Maria."

"I would see that first – not to mention it would be suicide for them to try and stop Hester alone; none of them are fighters and Hesters people out number them." I pointed out

"If she makes a hasty decision then there will not be enough time for anyone to reach them," he countered "and it would only be a last resort - we _cannot _let them take Jasper to Maria. Besides, Edward may be able to sneak close enough to 'hear' something useful."

I was about to argue further when my cellphone rang – Edward.

"Edward? I saw about Jasper." I said before he could speak.

""We're heading back." He said. Vampire hearing making it possible for Peter and Charlotte to also hear our conversation, Peter gave me a pointed look.

"No, you all need to wait there until we have decided on a course of action." I told him begrudgingly – despite how I disliked Peters suggestion, it did make sense.

"Okay," he replied doubtfully

"See if you can get close enough to pick up some of their thoughts" Peter supplied

"We'll call you back as soon as we have a plan." I added before hanging up. "Alright, so the last thing I want is for Edward, Bella and Carlisle to have to try to rescue Jasper alone." I said as I turned my attention back to Peter and Charlotte

"The problem is that we don't know how much time we have, and there's still Maria to consider – she's cautious so she hasn't done anything about Frienz's death yet, but we cannot expect that to last much longer. If we over extend ourselves trying to save Jasper, it could put us in a very dangerous position here." Peter replied

"Well we currently have at least a week and a half before Hester decides what to do with Jasper. I saw her talking to him and his eyes were completely black." I explained

"Can you see what Maria plans are?" Charlotte asked me.

I shook my head "She's still blocking me." We had discovered just after the dogs left that it was not them who was blocking my abilities – Maria had discovered how to block them as well.

"The problem is that we cannot attack Hester directly without forcing Maria and Gareth into a direct confrontation." Peter pointed out

"We have to get Jasper out without it becoming an open battle – I don't think Hester will tell Maria that we rescued Jasper if she can avoid it because that would mean admitting that she had captured Jasper without informing her." Charlotte added

"Yes but how exactly do we manage that – she's bound to have people guarding him and there's no way we'd get past without fighting."

"Agnes." Charlotte said randomly

I glanced at her in confusion – Agnes was a newly turned vampire who had only woken up about 12 hours ago.

"I'm not certain but I think her gift is some sort of cloaking that allows her to go unnoticed" She explained

"I'm still not seeing how this will work," I admitted "and she's newly turned – she's got barely any control and absolutely no training, not to mention we are not sure exactly how her gift works."

"You said we have a week and a half before Hester does anything." Peter reminded me

"And newborns take at least three weeks to train." I retorted

Peter went silent for a moment, thinking, before asking "When you saw Hester talking to Jasper, did she at any point expose him to the scent of blood – bring in a human or something?"

"Well when she entered the smell did enter through the open door, but she never actually brought a human into the room." I didn't really see what he was getting at – I had assumed it was just a petty form of torture or the scent was just a by product of her next meal.

"And how did Jasper react?"

"He didn't really – he twitched as if resisting the urge to try get to the blood though."

I saw Peter and Charlotte exchange meaningful looks "And she had not tortured him in any way other to the blood depravation?"

I shook my head – knowing I would have seen that as soon as she decided to do so. "What is it?"

"She's waiting for him to be weak enough to control without having to worry about him escaping or putting up a fight. He's still too dangerous at the moment. Now, Jaspers control is higher than most southerners which means that we have at least three weeks, if not longer." He explained "So Maria will probably attack before Hester has done anything - when Maria attacks, chances are she'll get Hester and Gareth to back her up, Hester will probably only leave a few vampires behind to guard Jasper since she'll assume we'll all be occupied with fighting here. That would be the best time to rescue Jasper."

"Okay, and what about Maria's attack? If it was just her we'd stand a chance but with Gareth and Hester… there's a reason that even the Volturi cannot stand up to her." I countered

"We'll train the newborns as best we can, set up a chain of command and leave them to deal with her while we go and rescue Jasper." Peter said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Revulsion rippled through me – he wanted us to just abandon the newborns to almost guaranteed death "Look, I'm not saying it's honorable because it's not, but us staying would not achieve anything except our deaths, at least if we get Jasper out we will have a chance to defeat them all at a later date."

"Even if I didn't have a problem with leaving them as lambs to the slaughter it'd mean losing the territory and we'd be starting over pretty much from square one."

"And if we die, there wouldn't even be a square to begin with." He argued

"No," I said firmly – I was not willing to consider this "there has to be another way, we just have to find it."

"Alice, ninty-nine percent of the vampires we turn will not see their first year out. You cannot afford to try saving them at your own expense. I know that sounds cruel and heartless but it is just the way things have to be." He said hotly

"No." I said with as much finality as I could muster

"But-"

I drew myself up to my full height (which is not much) and said imperiously "Peter, you do not have to agree with me but, as Jaspers mate, it is _my _decision to make, not yours. Now, I suggest you turn your thoughts to coming up with another, more acceptable solution."

I hated pulling rank on Peter like that but I was not willing entertain his plan. I was about to say more when the door opened to admit Randy.

"What is it?" I demanded, irritated at being interrupted.

"Damien came across an unfamiliar scent in the woods, about 2 miles out. Definitely vampire." He supplied quickly

"Did he follow it?" Peter asked

"He came back to tell me to come tell you and then went back to see if he could pick up any more."

"Alright, go to the opposite side of the perimeter to where he caught the scent and see if you come across anything there. I want the whole area checked. If you or he comes across a scent, follow it but don't go further than 10 miles. Report back to me when you're done and if you do come across anyone do not make yourself known to them. " I ordered quickly

He nodded and left. "It's coming from every side." Charlotte muttered.

"You didn't get a vision?" Peter asked.

I shook my head – apparently I was not the only one bothered by that fact.

**I know that by now I dont need to tell you how much I love reviews, and I know you wont dissappont me by not using the little button below and reviewing - right? ;-)**


	15. Chapter 15

**So I am so sorry for the delay in updating - my internets been down and with the long weekend I had to wait until today to come to the internet cafe. Hope you enjoy.**

I paced the crowded living room impatiently as we waited for Damien and Randy to get back. I had ordered that everyone congregate there until we knew more, fearing that, if anyone left, and the scent did prove hostile, they would take advantage of us all being scattered.

I felt everyone stiffen as we heard two sets of rapidly approaching footsteps a split second before Damien and Randy burst into the room.

"The whole area reeks with scents that are foreign to me – at least six, maybe more," Randy said hastily "the only area free of it is a mile wide area in the South East – the same area we pass through when we go to the Grange to hunt."

I heard Peter and Emmet swear behind me

"We checked everywhere within a ten mile radius, like you said. The scents overlapped but some were over a week old." Damien added.

"And you didn't meet anyone?" I asked

Both shook their heads "No, but some of the scents were only a few hours old, so either they were avoiding us or something else made them leave."

"Did you come across anything else – tracks?" Peter demanded

"Yes," Randy replied "too many and too convoluted to follow. My guess though is they were running patrols around the entire area."

"And would someone like to tell me how we did not realize there was a group of vampires watching us for over a month?" I demanded to the room at large.

The fact that such a large group could go unnoticed for so long was incomprehensible to me and deeply worrying.

No one dared to respond to my question

"Alr-" I began only to be cut off by a piercing scream – the morphine had worn off one of the newly turned vampires. I indicated for Peter and Emmett to go and deal with it.

"Who has not hunted in the last 24 hours?" I asked, wanting to check if anyone would be too weak if it came to a fight. Six hands were raised but a quick glance told me that none of their eyes were very dark.

I was about to say more when I was yet again cut off, this time by a cell phone ringing.

I waited as Charlotte answered it, a brief exchange followed before she put down the phone and said "That was Kellen. I had him and Franz check the area's around the Grange but they didn't come across anything out of the ordinary, which would suggest that whoever the scents belong to was here for us."

"Good, call him back and tell him to expect us in about five hours. We'll need a house to hide out in. " I answered

"What all of us?" Charlotte asked in surprise.

"Yes, all of us. I'd rather be somewhere that whoever this is is unfamiliar with." I explained "Rosalie, Emmett and Nico will organize moving the untrained vamps, everyone else will continue to search for the owners of the scents that have us all rile up. You can go out as far as you need but stay in groups of three, and everyone is to check in with Esme telephonically every ten minutes. No one is to make their presence known and if you are discovered do not lead them anywhere near the Grange. If you do come across these people you let Esme know immediately and then wait until she gives you further orders." I instructed

"Everyone can collect a cellphone from me, speed dial 1 will go directly through to my number." Esme called as people began to form groups.

"Rose, could you go and tell Emmett and Peter what's been decided." I requested as the room cleared. She nodded and exited. "Charlotte, I want you, me and Esme in a group." I added as she got off the phone with Kellan.

She reluctantly agreed and the three of us headed out the house, sprinting south.

"So, what's the plan?" Charlotte asked after a couple of minutes.

"That very much depends on what we find and where we find it. Ideally the group was small and nomadic and hoping to take over the coven, in which case we can take care of them quickly but their patience and care seemed to indicate otherwise, and the fact that of the twenty-two vampires we have, not one of them noticed the scents for over a month is even more worrisome."

"Mmm, I was thinking about that," Charlotte agreed "and it just seems so unlikely. I would take a guess and say they have someone who can wipe memories."

"But then why did Damien not 'forget'?" Esme asked

"His gift," she explained, referring to the fact that, like Bella, Damien was a shield but he could only protect whomever he was touching "they probably fled when they realized he still remembered."

"Okay, but if that was the case then why doesn't he remember them trying to wipe his memory?" I pointed out.

"Whoever it is can use their abilities at a distance?" Charlotte guessed.

It was a possibility which I was not about to rule out but I thought it unlikely – it was just to coincidental for my liking.

"Well if that is the case then we have a serious problem because without Bella or Damien shielding us for all we know we've already discovered the group and just don't remember it. So for now, let us assume that is not the case. My main issue is if it's Maria - I don't think it likely that two separate groups of vampires have discovered how to block my visions over the space of a few months."

Just then Esme's phone rang, but it was only one of the groups checking in. We continued to search for the next couple of hours but no one had managed to find the group, I was about to order everyone back since we were ranging too far out for comfort when Esme's phone rang again.

"Its Selicia's group, they've found them, about 20miles west of us." Esme related hastily.

I held out my hand for the phone.

"Selicia?" I asked

"Yes"

"Tell me about your location."

"We're about half a mile away, downwind from them, there's nine vampires total, they seem to be waiting for something, just milling around." She whispered.

"Alright, stay where you are and we'll meet up with you soon."

"Okay, if you approach from the south you should be able to follow our trail to us and they wont notice your approach." She added before hanging up the phone.

I glanced at Charlotte. "Nine vampires with unknown abilities, it's risky even if we do outnumber them." She commented

I nodded in agreement. "Esme, could you organize for the other search groups to meet up with us – we're going to head towards Selicia from the south." Esme had the phone to her ear before I had even finished speaking.

"And Peter and Emmett?" Charlotte asked "They won't like missing this."

"I know," I replied "but they've got other tasks to do and we don't really need them – neither have any abilities that could aid us other to strength and this group does not pose a threat to us in that regard."

I could tell Charlotte was dying to argue with me but decided against it, instead asking "So, do you have a plan?"

"Fifteen of us will surround them and I will attempt to speak with them and gain some information peacefully, the other six are in reserve incase we need help, if the group turns out to have abilities superior to ours then at least six of us will survive to tell the others."

"You do know that even if they do co-operate, we'll still have to kill them – we can't keep that many vampires prisoner and they know too much about us to let live."

I unconsciously slowed down as I considered that

"I know"

**So thank you again to all reviewers - I cannot beleive the response to this story and a belated HAPPY EASTER to everyone who celebrated it.**

**And before I forget - PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm not going to make the wait for the next chapter any longer with a lengthy AN so here you go..**

JPOV

I could hear someone rapidly approaching the door, the low hum of voices on the otherside of the door. I ignored them, not having the energy to pay attention to my wardens gossiping. Suddenly the loud echo of the bolt that secured the door being removed filled the room.

I looked up from where I was sitting, cross-legged in the centre of the room.

A tall, lithe female vampire entered, her long black hair flowing down her back. The red evening dress swirled around her as she hurriedly moved to crouch beside me. I flinched away automatically, unsure of her purpose. She pinned me quickly.

"If I help you will you let me join your coven?" She hissed, barely audible even though her lips were brushing my ear.

I nodded, unsure as I was of her motives, she was offering me an out and I was not about to squander it.

"Be ready." she whispered before springing off me and out of the room. I heard the bolt slide back into place and after a few moments of silence began to wonder if the quick exchange had really happened or if the lack of blood was causing me to hallucinate.

Three days later I heard the bolt sliding away again. As the door opened I was assaulted with the most delectable scent in the world – fresh blood. Unable to control my bloodlust I scrabbled towards the door. Before I had made it even half way the mysterious woman entered, dragging behind her the human from whom the smell had originated. She shoved the man towards me and I gratefully sank my teeth into his neck.

I felt the blood course through my veins, rejuvenating me but all too soon the supply ran dry and I dropped the body to the floor. It was not enough to replenish all the energy I had lost from the forced starvation but I was at least able to think coherently again. In a now slightly more stable frame of mind I managed to stop myself from running through the now open door to find more blood and instead turned to the woman. Her attention was only half on me though as she peered down the corridor.

"We don't have much time and I can't get you more blood until we're out of the house, can you manage to run?"

I nodded "And fight if I have to."

"Alright, lets go." she instructed slipping out of the room. I followed her closely as she led me to the end of the hall. Here she stopped

"You need pretend that I'm escorting you, keep your eyes down so they don't notice you've been fed."

Taking a grip on my arm she pulled me roughly up the stairs. I felt the woman's emotions spike as a large male vampire came into view.

"Abby, wha.."

"None of your business Mark" she cut him off before he could finish.

"But Hester said that…" he began, bewilderment pouring off him

"Hester's orders have changed." Abby cut him off again, and started walking pulling me with her.

Mark continued to watch us as we passed but said no more, I could feel his curiosity, but surprisingly little suspicion coming from him. Once we were around the corner Abby opened a door to the left and led me in. She released my arm as soon as the door was closed and went to open the window on the opposite wall before moving to stand beside me, her lips at my right ear.

"We're going to jump from the window and run south, in the woods there's a river, swim downstream to the old mill house, if we make it there we should be free of pursuers. I nodded and followed her out the window.

We got to the river surprisingly easily and without pursuit. There we swam non-stop for three hours before the mill she had mentioned came into sight. By this point I was feeling the weakness in my limbs again, although it was not as bad as before. At the mill I took the opportunity to hunt and quickly dispatched the two occupants, Abby waited for me to drink my fill before having the farm hand for herself.

"Here," She said, tossing me a cell phone in a waterproof bag once she had finished "Call whomever you need to call."

I considered her sceptically, now more refreshed I was less comfortable trusting her.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, delaying the phone call I was longing to make

"That's my business." she said, her emotions a roiling mass of hate, anger and fear.

"Not anymore." I argued "You said you wanted to join my coven, and I need to know why – southern vampires do not switch covens that easily, especially not newly trained ones,"

"I'm not that newly trained." she countered

"Until you have over two hundred years under your belt, trust me, you're newly trained, besides if you are a part of my coven, I am your leader." I added, not needing to explain what that meant.

"Hester killed my mate."

The pieces fell into place – if there was one thing that could change someone's loyalties in under a millisecond, it was the loss of your mate. Satisfied I opened the phone, hastily dialled the number and waited to hear _her_ voice again.

**As if you don't knowit by now, Reviews are always appreciated!!!**


	17. Important AN!

First off, thank you to everyone who's reviewed this story, added it to alerts, favourites etc. Although I kind of wish this story was not as popular as it is because then I wouldn't feel so bad about what I'm about to do.

So, I know I'm about to get a lot of outraged PM's about this but I feel that it's be better for me to let you know what's happening rather than just not updating for months on end (Which is already happening). Basically, I have decided to put this story on hiatus – cue cries of shock – I'm just feeling really uninspired about this story at the moment and have other projects I want to work on. I hate to do this to everyone (I know how it drives me nuts when a story I've been reading gets put on hiatus), and if I thought there was only a couple of chapters left I'd push through my block and finish it but this story still had quite a way to go and if I don't officially let you know then the story is just going to sit for months with no one knowing what's going on. Rest assured that I do have every intention of returning to this story and finishing it but that wont be for a while (at least a few more months).

If you want to vent about this you're welcome to PM me, but please don't put it in a review or when I do resume this story you wont be able to review the new chapter.

I'm sorry to do this to you all, but, who knows, maybe by putting it on hiatus I'll get a bee in my bonnet to pick it up again (Murphy's Law generally applies to me)

Stargirl888


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